I remember sitting on the brightly-striped multi-colored carpet (it was the Sixties, after all) of our family room, with my brother Mark, my Mom and Dad, as we watched the ghostly black and white images of the first Moon landing. When we heard the words “Tranquility Base here — the Eagle has landed,” I looked over at my Mom, sitting in her favorite chair, and saw tears streaming down her face. I was only eight years old — mostly I couldn’t begin to figure out how we could see TV pictures from the Moon, since clearly there weren’t any TV stations up there — but remembering that moment, shared with my family, brings tears to my eyes now, forty years later.

Okay, if you’re like me, you can’t even believe that it’s been 40 years. To celebrate the anniversary, the Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center is hosting “To the Moon and Back,” an exhibit of NASA artifacts, opening Saturday, July 25th and running through August 29th. The day the exhibit opens will be full of hands-on space activities, live video broadcasts from Space Center Houston, and opportunities for those of us who were “there” those 40 years ago to share our memories of the event. Not quite that long in the tooth? Then we hope you’ll share your visions and hopes for what space travel can be in the future.

But if you can’t be here at the Museum to share your memories on July 25th, you can share them through this blog. Just click the “Comment” link up at the top of this post and tell your story (and read other people’s stories). Again, if you weren’t there in ’69, you can describe your vision of space travel in the future — and we’d love to hear from kids, too! In return for sharing your story, we’d like to offer you a buy-one-get-one-free admission for you and a friend to come see “To the Moon and Back” — to celebrate — to remember — to dream — to wonder.

The Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center is opening a temporary exhibit, “To the Moon and Back,” Saturday, July 25 with a variety of special activities and programs. The event celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20, 1969.

Live video broadcasts from Space Center Houston at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, and 12:30 pm will revisit the historical significance of that first touchdown on the Moon, plus provide a glimpse of upcoming missions to the Moon and to Mars. Interactive, hands-on space activities will be offered from 11 am to 2 pm in the gallery and the Museum courtyard.

Visitors will also have a chance to share memories of the first moon landing, and children are invited to share their vision for future space missions.

The temporary exhibit features artifacts on loan from NASA, including space helmets from the Apollo and space shuttle flights, moon rock replicas, in-flight space suit, astronaut food, and photographs of astronauts and other space scientists. The exhibit will be at the Museum through the end of August. The Museum is offering the exhibit and special activities through its partnership with Virtual Space Community, an outreach program through Space Center Houston.

All July 25th activities are included in the price of admission: $4 for adults, $3 for children (ages 3-12) and seniors (60+). Children 2 and under are free. The Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center is at 200 Mathews St. in downtown Fort Collins. For more information, go to the website at http://www.fcmdsc.org or call 970-221-6738.